QP8SM Certification: Installation of Polymer Coatings
and Surfacings on Concrete and Other Cementitious Surfaces
SSPC QP8SM Certification is a new program intended to be used by
facility owners (or their protective coating specialists or specifying
engineers) to ensure that contractors hired to install polymer
coatings or surfacings on concrete and other cementitious surfaces
in commercial, institutional, and industrial facilities have the
primary technical capabilities and organizational structure necessary
to do the work.
The objective of the program is to provide owners and their agents
with a tool for prequalifying contractors who wish to bid on their
projects. In order to achieve certification, companies are assessed
in several key areas:
- management procedures
- technical knowledge
- quality control procedures
- personnel qualifications
- safety, health, and environmental compliance.
Companies seeking certification must also demonstrate
their ability to:
- perform substrate evaluation, repair, and treatment
- conduct surface preparation operations
- install coatings and surfacings over concrete-based substrates
- implement their quality program in the field
- meet the conditions and restrictions specified by the owner.
These areas are first evaluated through a series of submittals
describing the contractor's business operations. Then an impartial,
on-site audit of a representative active job-site is performed
to verify that the programs and practices are, in fact, being implemented
and used. Companies who fail to meet the standards of the program
are subject to disciplinary actions ranging from a basic warning
to suspension and revocation of their certification.
The SSPC-QP 8 Certification Program does not involve inspection
of the contractor's work. The program is also not intended to guarantee
the quality or safety performance of a specific contractor on any
of its projects. Rather, it is intended to assist facility owners
or others in their evaluation of potential bidders. While SSPC
certification confirms a company's capability to meet the requirements
of SSPC-QP 8, owners, specifiers and general contractors are encouraged
to also assess the installation contractor's financial ability
to perform a job as well as the contractor's previous work history,
capability to meet site-specific requirements, and other areas
not covered under this program. Links to initial and maintenance application forms, internal audit
checklists, and other information can be found on the Lists,
Applications, and Forms page. Facility owners and their specifying
protective coating specialists and engineers who wish to specify
QP 8 for
upcoming projects, please contact the appropriate SSPC staff person using the info to the right--------->
The QP 8 Contractor Certification Program is
based on SSPC-QP 8, Standard
Procedure for Evaluating the Qualifications of Contracting
Firms that Install Polymer Coatings
and Surfacings on Concrete and Other Cementitious Substrates, a consensus
standard developed by SSPC technical committees, published July
1, 2003.
SSPC members
can obtain a copy of the SSPC-QP 8 standard through the new SSPC
Members Only Download Area; nonmembers can purchase a PDF copy through
the SSPC
Online Standards Store.
SSPC-QP 8 can also be found in the latest edition of Systems
and Specifications, SSPC
Painting Manual, Volume 2, available through the SSPC
Online Bookstore.
|
